Shooting candid portrait at events, with bounce flash
Shooting candid portrait at events, with bounce flash
My favorite image from a Bar Mitzvah party that I photographed. It is one from a series of candid (or semi-candid) portraits of various guests and their kids at the party. Aside from the obvious photographs that need to be taken during these kinds of events, I also try and grab more candid images, and for these a telephoto zoom (70-200mm f2.8) works really well. By going wide open on this lens, you can really isolate your subject .. and also draw in more of the available light. In this case the background is a mixture of Read more inside...unsharp images – so what went wrong this time?
checking my technique to ensure sharp images
I love sharp images. Crisply sharp. However, I'm not stuck on the idea that the image has to be sharp over the need for an image to have impact. Images that draw us in, usually have emotional impact of some kind. But still, I like sharp. How sharp your subject appears, is a balance between a bunch of factors we have to balance,. These factors might be with careful forethought, or just something we intuitively adjust for. Shutter speed, choice of aperture, subject movement, your own movement, choice of equipment, and our own Read more inside...When aperture does NOT control flash exposure
When aperture doesn't control the flash exposure
The axioms regarding flash photography that get thrown around most often, are: ambient exposure is controlled by shutter speed, flash exposure is controlled by aperture. While these are true, there's also an over-simplification happening here. Just rallying those two statements in a perfunctory manner, we actually lose understanding of how flash and ambient exposures actually inter-relate. The problem with the first statement is that it disregards that aperture and ISO both control ambient exposure as Read more inside...review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens
review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens
The specialty of a macro lens is in allowing you much much closer to your subject than a normal optic would .. with the ease of continuous focusing from infinity to the closest distance. No need to screw in additional rings or lenses or reverse your lens. A macro lens works as a close-up lens, and as a more usual optic. And that's the versatility of it. The main feature of the Canon 100 mm f/2.8 IS macro lens (B&H / Amazon) is that it offers stabilization. Now this might not seem such a big deal to photographers who work Read more inside...photography tip: using a zoom lens
photography tip: using a zoom lens
It was a busy weekend again, with a wedding and a portrait session on Sunday. From the photo session on Sunday, here's my favorite image of the day. I just love the way the background appears in this photograph. The bokeh of this lens is just wonderful. camera settings: 1/250th @ f4 @ 400 ISO The camera used was the Nikon D3, (B&H), and the lens was the 70-200mm f2.8 VR , (B&H). A telephoto zoom like this, or the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS, (B&H), is essential for this kind of portrait work. That image is typical of the Read more inside...taking photos under the mid-day sun / hard sunlight
taking photos in hard sunlight / mid-day sun
A recent post on using off-camera flash, the question came up about how I work when I'm on my own and don't have an assistant holding up a softbox. Using off-camera lighting does make your options easier in how you position your subject, since it is much easier to have great portrait lighting on your subject. By adding light to your subject with the flash & softbox combination, you have the freedom to be less concerned about perfect light on your subject. When I work on my own, I approach things differently. I now have to not Read more inside...Zones of Light – exposure metering using the Zone System
A recent thread on the Flick group on flash photography techniques dealt with exposure metering .. and the questions revolved around understanding your camera's built in meter. One of the group members, Arnold Gallardo (Zeroneg1), replied with a lucid explanation on exposure metering, relating it to the Zone System in a clear understandable way, using images from my blogs. I'd like to present this article by Arnold Gallardo as the latest guest spot on this blog. I might not have such a specific linear approach to metering any more during the actual shoot, since with practice it becomes Read more inside...
here’s why I love off-camera lighting ..
why I love off-camera flash
There are a few reasons why I love off-camera lighting, and I want to show some images from a recent photo session with one of my couples, Jill & Mike, as an example. The main reason for me, is that you can have perfect lighting on your subject's face with much more freedom than if you just relied on the available light. I am usually quite particular about the backgrounds to my photos, where it is in my control. The backgrounds need to be complementary, or add something to the image. I have a preference for an out-of-focus background. The defocused Read more inside...recap: Photography workshop – Atlanta (2009)
recap: Photography workshop – Atlanta (2009)
The near-penultimate workshop for this year was held in Atlanta, covering the range of topics relating to flash photography and lighting. As always, it was good to meet and work with a group of people - and then throughout the day, watch and experience everyone's progress in getting more familiar with the subject. Thank you to everyone who attended! The image above of our model, was taken in the hotel lobby. The wall behind her had an interesting pattern, and I wanted to use that. Even though the lobby had a fair amount of broad Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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